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Pattern RollCall: The Knits You Loved at HSYP!

By Stephanie

At HomeSpun Yarn Party, we had finished two pieces that got so many comments, so many questions, so many compliments, that I knew they had to be showcased in a Pattern Rollcall!

Paint the Sky

The first was the Paint the Sky wrap by Susan Wolcott of Y2Knit, a beautiful rectangular scarf with delicate yarn overs that rise up the length of it like bubbles through water.  Knit in a semi-solid yarn, the pattern would really shine, but done in a varigated yarn, it becomes an absolute gorgeous riot of colour.

© Susan Wolcott, Used with Permission

We knit ours in one skein of Lucina yarn in a gentle pink-and-purple colourway called Sweet Dreams, and it was gorgeous!  But it would look stunning in any of these yarns that have just gone in the shop:

yarn, hand-dyed, sock yarn
(clockwise from upper left): Lucina sparkly yarn in Most Ardently, Swollen, Carnival, and Baroque

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Fleurdelise

The second finished piece that got so much attention was the Fleurdelise One Skein Triangle Shawl by Michelle Miller of Fickle Knitter Designs.

© Fickle Knitter Design, Used with Permission

This was knit for me by my friend Natalie (as my birthday present!) using one skein of Lucina in SouthEasterly,  a yarn that is varigated but all without a great deal of contrast in the colours.  With a more complicated lace pattern like this, it often works best to use a yarn that’s either semi-solid or has a simpler change of colours.  Personally, I’d love to see how it comes out in two of our most popular colourways, Sugared Violets and Beguile.

yarn, sock yarn, hand-dyed
(left to right) Lucina Yarn in Sugared Violets and Beguile

You can see why these patterns got so much attention at HSYP, can’t you?  So beautiful!

Ahhh! Now This Feels Good…

By Stephanie

Getting ready for the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival was great fun (and exciting, and crazy, and chaotic) and it took over my life for a few weeks.  And in a way, that was a lovely break — everyone needs a change from their day-to-day routines now and again — but one thing I really missed was the excitement of putting new yarns in the shop, of sharing new colourways with my customers.  Sometimes, it takes a little break like that to remind you how nice your day-to-day really is!

So last night I filled the shop with just a few of the mountain of new yarns and colours I have ready to go in…

sock yarn, hand-dyed, hand dyed, knitting, yarn, crochetClockwise from top left: Silk and BFL in Spice Trade, Celeste in Cove, Estelle in Sunshine, Estelle in Goodbye Blue Sky, Celeste in Rubble, and Celeste in First Love

Ahhhhh…  It feels soooo good to be back to normal again!

Cadet Credits, With Thanks to You

By Stephanie

The first few days of January are probably supposed to be about looking forward, but I cannot help looking back.  2010 was a great year here at SpaceCadet Creations — it’s been exciting, it’s been educational, sometimes it’s been a bit scary, it’s always been colourful!…  And most of all, it’s been successful.  And ladies and gentlemen, I know that success is entirely down to you.  You’ve been encouraging me, supporting me, talking to me… and buying my yarn and fiber.  I am incredibly grateful.

For a little while now, I’ve been thinking about how I can show you my thanks, how I can make it real.  And so I am very excited to introduce SpaceCadet’s Cadet Credits, a way to reward my loyal customers and let them know how much I appreciate them.  Here’s how it works:  I will give you a $10 credit every time your purchases accumulate to $150 (minus discounts, taxes, and shipping costs).  Your credits will never expire, you can use them right away or saved them up to be used all together, and they can be used on anything in the SpaceCadet Creations shop.  It’s my way of showing you how much your support has meant to me throughout 2010.

And that last sentence up there…  that’s not just some kind of marketing waffle to make you feel good.  I really mean it.  So I’m not going to implement Cadet Credits from just today onwards, I’m going to give credit to my customers for all their purchases throughout 2010.   Don’t worry — you don’t have calculate a thing.  I’ll kept track of all the numbers and will be emailing you shortly to let you know how much credit you have, or how close you are to earning one.

And with that, it is time to look forward to 2011 — it’s going to be an exciting year!  There are a lot of great things planned here in the SpaceCadet studio — some I’ll tell you about as they develop, and some that will stay top-secret until they’re ready for their reveal.  I can’t wait to get started.

But you…  You can start celebrating 2011 right away.  So go on!  Go spend those credits!

For full details of the Cadet Credit Programme (it’s not complicated!), click here.

Tallying Up…

By Stephanie

The May Giveaway has come to a close and I am just overjoyed at the response — so many people subscribing, tweeting, friending, and commenting about my yarn and fiber.  It’s such a help to me to hear everyone’s thoughts and feedback.  Thank you all so much!   I now have to tie up all the extra entries with the subscriptions and I am presently fighting off a very nasty cold and fever, so it will take me a few days.  You can expect the winners to be announced near the end of the week.

In the meantime, let me share with you what I pulled out of the dyepot yesterday.  The colours are so rich and delicious that I just want to fall into it headfirst.  I simply could not get the camera to really capture the tones of this yarn but, here, have a look…

Fingering Weight Yarn in Superwash Merino, in Vineyard Stain

When the grapes have been harvested and gathered into great piles at the end of each row, and the piles have been collected and taken to the winery, what is left in their place is a ruby-red mark where the sheer weight of the bounty crushed the succulent grapes and the dark juice escaped and ran down, leaving that beautiful, telltale stain — deep as burgundy in some places, soft as a rose in others — against the yellow-brown of the dry, sun-baked earth.

Each skein is over 100g of Superwash Merino in a wonderfully soft 3-ply, fingering weight yarn. Two skeins available, sold separately.

Fiber Content: 100% Superwash Merino
Weight: Approximately 3.7oz / 105g (approximately 490 yards per 100g)
Colourway: Vineyard Stain, 100530-001
Care Instructions for the final item: Hand or Machine wash, Lay flat to dry.

Each item is individually hand-dyed by the SpaceCadet, using professional grade acid dyes, using professional grade acid dyes which are mixed by hand from primaries. Please be sure to buy enough for your project as the colours may not be able to be reproduced exactly.
SpaceCadet Creations is a smoke-free, pet-free environment.
Please remember that the colours in pictures may vary depending on your computer monitor. The colours in the photos are as accurate as possible.

Last Chance to Enter the Giveaway!

By Stephanie

It’s the last few days to enter the giveaway to win a skein of SpaceCadet Creation’s hand-dyed Sock Yarn or two 2oz braids of hand-dyed fiber!  The giveaway will come to a close at the end of Monday (11.59pm on May 31st to be exact) so, if you’re not entered, make sure you get entered before the end of the holiday weekend!

All you have to do is put your email address in the subscription box over there on the right, just above the SpaceCadet’s head.  And, once you’ve done that, there are six ways to earn extra entries — for all the details, click here.

But remember, those extra entries will count only if you’ve subscribed to the blog using the subscription box right over there at the top of the right-hand column.  While I am sincerely grateful for all my followers, I can’t see the people who subscribe through other feed aggrigators (such as Google Reader, Bloglines, etc) and so I’m afraid those subscriptions can’t count as entries.  If you prefer to follow me through another feed aggrigator, please go ahead and do that, but also subscribe through the blog just for a few days, so your entry can be counted for the giveaway.

Thank you to everyone who has subscribed and entered so far.  It’s been so exciting to “meet” all of you!  Now go out there and tweet, post, follow, and friend your way to extra entries.  And GOOD LUCK!

Bright Lights, Big Etsy Treasury

By Stephanie

A little email in my inbox, minding its own business, waiting for me to open it…  And so I do, and it announces that…  drumroll please… Freshly Cut Grass has been chosen for SacredArts‘s Etsy Treasury!!!  I’m so excited!!!

And here’s how my little yarn looks up in lights:

Thank you, SacredArts!  You have absolutely made my day!